GNU stability in question after Budget clash
Image: IOL
THE Government of National Unity's (GNU) chances of success are “extremely slim”, says the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), which along with the DA, were the only parties in the coalition government to reject the proposed Budget.
The party's continued participation in the coalition government is to solely “further the interests of Afrikaners and other minorities", according to leader FF+ leader Corné Mulder.
While the DA continues to contemplate its next move over the GNU, the FF+ said on Sunday it was not bound by other political parties' decisions or actions regarding continued participation or withdrawal from the GNU.
Mulder said the discussion over the budget and its consequences for the GNU has now been referred to the party's Federal Management Committee for further discussions.
“The party will not let the decisions or actions of another party affect its own decision-making. The Freedom Front Plus did not join the GNU to gain some title or position. Its continued participation in the GNU is based solely on the question of whether it benefits Afrikaners and other minorities in South Africa or not,” said Mulder.
He said the way that fellow governing partners have been treated by the ANC so far was unacceptable.
“In addition, involving political parties outside of the GNU to steamroller the Fiscal Framework demonstrates a clear lack of commitment to make the GNU work. The GNU is not supposed to be the ANC continuing in the same vein with any random grouping of political parties controlled and dominated by it. That is nothing but co-opting.”
The SACP has weighed in on the future of the GNU, saying the DA is not a key player and should be excluded from the coalition.
Speaking to the SABC on Saturday, SACP spokesperson Dr Alex Mashilo said that the voting patterns during the budget vote on Wednesday, where the budget passed by a slim majority of 192 votes in favour versus 182 against, demonstrated that the DA was not a key factor.
"There is a 50% plus one majority in parliament excluding the DA, the Mkhonto Wesizwe (MKP), and others. So South Africa will not stop, and that is one of the discussions we are having here," Mashilo said.
Mashilo also called for the "rollback" of the planned VAT increase, arguing that it would place undue pressure on South African citizens.
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday that his party will discuss the steps the ANC should take moving forward regarding the GNU.
"The National Executive Committee is the one that is going to discuss precisely what the ANC now needs to do as we deal with these challenges where a number of parties, particularly also parties that are part of the GNU at the national level, have voted against the budget," Ramaphosa said.
His remarks came a day after DA leader John Steenhuisen, speaking to the media in Southgate, Phoenix, during the DA’s by-election campaign on Saturday, said he had received letters from business leaders urging the party to remain in the GNU.
To this, Ramaphosa said that business did not dictate decisions, whether in government or within the ANC.
"We make our own decisions based on our considerations of everything that will advance the interests of our people. But of course, like any other citizen, they are entitled to express their views, their wishes, and their fears. So they too are entitled to do so, but in the end, the ANC will not be influenced by what business says," he said.
Cape Times